Canterbury Park and Other Locales

I spent last week in Minneapolis and was able to spend some time at the Canterbury Park poker room.  I have been there once before and I was looking forward to going back.  I was hoping that my coworker Steve could also come with me but he wasn’t able to make it.

I wrote earlier about how the typical Foxwoods player was sort of the stereotype of the East Coast, badda-boom, badda-bing guy.  Well, the Canterbury player was just as much the stereotype of the northern Plains folk:  Really friendly, cheerful, talkative, and with an accent so thick that I could almost tell you a player’s address as soon as they started speaking.  I really had a lot of fun playing there.

Even the jokes at the table were more tame!  Here’s one that I got quite a kick out of:

This lady goes to the grocery store to buy some groceries.  She finished shopping and goes to the cashier to check out.  After she puts all her stuff on the conveyor belt, this guy comes up behind her to stand in line.  He looks at what she is buying and says, “Well, I can tell that you are single.”  The woman is quite surprised.  She looks at her purchases – milk, eggs, bread, that kind of thing, nothing out of the ordinary – and she can’t tell what he is seeing.  So she says, “Yes, I am single, but how could you tell?”  The guy says, “’Cause you’re ugly.”

I mostly played $8/$16 limit.  They were running a lot of Sit-n-Go’s the day I was there, and I kept wanting to play one, but the cash game was just too juicy to leave.  It was surprising how quickly the players at that level became more cautious once they saw how I was playing.  It was pretty much like a light switch clicked on about twenty minutes after I sat down.

I have some more work travel coming up, and by coincidence, they are to places that have nearby poker rooms:  Spokane (Northern Quest) and Kansas City (Ameristar, Harrah’s, etc.).  I may be heading out to New York City next month, and if so I may see whether or not I can extend a day or two and drive down to Atlantic City.  I did that once and really had fun there.  And then I am going to Pendleton, Oregon next month for a sort of vacation.  There is a big tournament playing there.

Meanwhile, I got invited to a cash game at my friend Thom in Burien’s house last night.  I was glad that I was going to be in town to play it, as much as I have been on the road lately.  It was really a lot of fun to play there, even though the stakes were lower than what I usually play (specifically, .10/.25).  Unfortunately, I nearly tripled up in only about three and a half hours of playing.  I was merciless at the table, pretty much stomping everybody except for Thom (who is a very good player) and Kim (who I never really had a hand against).  So now I don’t know whether they will want me to come back!  I guess I just can’t keep myself from going for the jugular whenever I see two cards in front of me.

I played one really big hand like a complete donkey and sucked out, felting one guy who deserved better.  I had pocket Aces, and my opponent turned the flush.  Now, I had a read on this guy that was so solid he may have well been playing his cards face up.  I knew he had that flush.  He (properly) went all-in, a huge overbet to the pot.  With the nut flush redraw, I called.  My 15% chance of grabbing another Spade came in, and I took all of the chips.  All I could do was apologize because it was such a pathetic play.

So why did I call the bet when I knew I was so far behind?  I guess for a few reasons, none of which I can really be proud of (and some of which aren’t even very good reasons):

•     I wanted to throw out an image of being kind of a goofball of a player.  I do that sometimes, usually early in a game, to mess with my opponents’ judgment of what kind of player I am. Sometimes it even pays off.
•     If I won, I could maybe put my opponent on tilt, and maybe a few other players too, and then tighten up and rake in the rewards.
•     I felt that I was a better player than most of my opponents, so if I lost a pot I could easily win it back by grinding the rest of the night.

Anyhow, I was pretty embarrassed at how the hand ended up, so for the rest of the night I played a lot tighter . . . and made even more money, although at least in a more respectable way.

Two Hands to start the game with

I'm going to discuss two consecutive hands I played recently at a cash game ($5/$10 no limit).  They were the first two hands I played at this particular table.

I had just barely sat down at the table and had to post the big blind.  I didn't recognize any of the players and I hadn't seen even one hand played out before I posted.

An early player limped in; a middle player raised it to $50.  The small blind called.  I looked down, and saw Ace/Jack of hearts.  Yee-haw!  What do you think I did?  Reraise?  Smooth call and slow play?  (I can tell you that I made my decision instantly, and never second-guessed it for a moment.)

I folded.

What??  Fold Ace/Jack suited from the big blind?  What could ever have compelled me to do something so ridiculous?

Well, of course several things went into my decision.

First of all, I didn't know my opponents at all.  I didn't know whether the pre-flop raiser would play any two napkins, or was super-tight and only played Aces.

Second, Mr. Raiser already had one over-caller.  Another tighty?  Who knows?  I sure didn't!  I could be way behind already; against any pair I am under 50% to win.  Was I willing to commit so much of my hard-earned money on just a guess or a hunch?  No; at least, not until I knew the players better.

Third, as I've alluded to already, Ace/Jack is the kind of hand that can seriously be behind.  Any pair leads it at this point; and against Ace/King or Ace/Queen it is something like a four-to-one dog.  And the pre-flop betting made it seem quite possible that I was up against a bigger Ace; certainly Ace/Ten or worse wouldn't be very likely to raise into two limpers, or overcall a big raise.  The fact that my hand was suited adds maybe a percentage point or two to my chances; unless I flop a flush, or at least a four-flush, the hand isn't really worth taking any further past the flop.

So I folded, as did the early limper.  It was heads up to the flop.

The dealer put a Four/Deuce/Ten rainbow on the board (and no hearts) -- completely missing my hand.

The preflop raiser put a $70 bet into a $120 pot.  The small blind thought for a while, fiddling with his cards while he considered what to do.  He eventually said, "I think your bluffing", and mucked his hand.

I don't know what either player had, but as the session continued that day I determined that the early raiser was moderately tight, and the small blind who called him much looser.  In other words, I don't think the pre-flop raiser was bluffing, and I think I made a good laydown.

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The very next hand, I was in the small blind.  The same pre-flop raiser from the last hand raised it to $50.  The player to his left insta-called.  Everyone else folded to me, so I was looking at putting $45 into a $115 pot; in other words, I was getting pot odds of 2.5 to 1.  If my hand was a winner 40% or so of the time, mathematically a call was the right choice.

I looked down and saw Ace of Spades/Queen of Diamonds; a hand only one kicker better than my previous hand.

I decided to call.  Ace/Queen is actually a LOT better than Ace/Jack.  And I trusted that I could get away from the hand if I failed to flop anything.

It was up to the big blind now -- and he popped it up to $100!  A curious little min-raise.

The preflop raiser called the extra $50; now there was $260 in the pot.

The player on his left, who insta-called the initial raise, said, "Well, that's too much for me" and folded his hand!  I was baffled.  The pot odds at that point were over five to one!  I called the raise, and we went to the flop.

The cards came King of Diamonds, Two of Spades, Jack of Spades.  I was first to act.

I had basically garbage at this point.  A gut-shot straight draw, sure; but the Ten of Spades completes the potential flush for my opponents.  With only a 13% or so chance at the non-spade straight, I had lost total interest in the hand.  I checked.

Oddly, my two opponents also checked.

The turn was the Jack of Clubs, putting two Jacks on the board.  Now, my non-spade straight was a 7% possibility; but against the potential full house it was still loser.

I checked -- and again, the two other players also checked.

The river was . . . the Ten of Diamonds!  So, I had rivered my straight!

By now, I pretty much thought that I had the best hand after all.  I didn't think somebody with a full house would have played it that way -- it would have meant that they seriously slowplayed a set (holding pocket kings) or two-pair (say, King-Jack).  So I began to consider how best to get the most value for my hand.

I decided to bet $200 into the $350 pot -- a pretty big bet, maybe looking like a "scared" bet.  I got one caller -- the big blind -- and the other player folded.

I showed my straight.  My opponent showed Ace/King offsuit, and I dragged in the pot of over $700.

Needless to say, I think my opponent misplayed his hand.  His preflop re-raise was good; with Ace/King your goal is to build the pot, and you're not afraid to see the flop.

Checking the flop was a huge blunder.  You've got top pair and top kicker, on a board that is straightening.  Why give an opponent (i.e. me) the chance to catch up?  Put out a bet here and pick up your pot.  I certainly would have folded to a bet here!

After the turn brought another Jack, I can understand the check here.  I don't agree with it, but I do understand it.  Having failed to bet the flop, he doesn't know where he's at in the hand.  And being timid, he just checks behind.  He should have bet here to gain some information.  Again, I would have folded if he had.

On the river, it's too late.  I even think the call was a mistake; any Queen or Jack beats you.

Needless to say, it was a lucrative session at the poker table that night.

Stealing blinds

I've heard more than a few players say that they probably lose more money from the blind positions than anywhere else on the table.  I'm sure that's the case for me also, but maybe not as much as it is for other players.

I'm not really all that connected to my blinds after I post them.  If you want to steal them, go right ahead.  They don't belong to me anymore, those chips belong to the winner of the hand (and it usually won't be me).

Whenever I hear advice to defend your blinds or (worse) "protect your children", I cringe.  Protect your children?  It's not your children fool, it's a couple of clay chips.

I've lost way more money "defending my blinds" than I ever have letting somebody with garbage steal them.  I've even played games where the same player would raise (or re-raise) whenever I was in the blind position so that I would fold and he would take the blinds.  Go ahead!

But I have to add, if I wake up with a decent hand (say Ace/Queen, or a pair of Jacks or better), I WILL play back.  And I consistently find that when I am up against a thief who is taking my big blind every round, and I am patient enough to wait until I have a playable hand before I try to defend, I end up winning in one hand much more than what I lost surrendering all those other hands!

And ... what's more ... I confess that I'm not the least bit above stealing blinds myself!  If I see that the big blind is really tight, and I am in late position (or sometimes even middle position), I will from time to time toss in a raise with a wide range of hands and try to pick up the pot right there.  If I do, that makes me feel better about letting all my blinds go.

Back from Foxwoods

Well, I spent the weekend at Foxwoods, and except for getting a flat tire on my rental car, I had a terrific time (as always).

On a dare from my co-worker Jon (who wasn't able to come down with me after all), I joined 37 others in playing the $560 buy-in Saturday afternoon tournament.  The tournament lasted about six hours!  But unfortunately, for me it only lasted about three.  Even though I made it through over half the field and played good poker, I didn't get the helping of luck I need to make it into the money.  My last hand happened when I shoved my short stack from middle position with Queen/Eight offsuit.  I was called by a pair of sixes, so with two overcards my chances were just under 50%.  But another six flopped, and I was down to less than 5% to win.  The last two cards were blanks, so it was off to the cash games for me.

A couple of hands will illustrate how I did playing cash poker.  Both times I had pocket queens.

The first time, I bet big against a guy who had flopped a flush and consequently donked off way too many chips.  I don't know what made me think my hand was any good . . . I know better than that!

The second time, I put my opponent all-in after the flop came three low cards (I had him covered).  He had pocket kings!  The board was a five-card straight, so we ended up splitting the pot.  Whew!

One more hand stands out and it is truly pretty sick.  I had six/five offsuit on the button, and joined six other limpers.  The flop came nine-eight-seven with two spades.  I had flopped a straight!  Now, I think straights are really vulnerable hands.  The big blind bet out and got two callers, and when it came to me I popped it up big.  The big blind now re-raised all-in (he had me covered), and I called.  He had two spades, Jack high, and roughly a one in three chance to win.  Do I need to say what happened next?  The flush card came on the river, and I was felted.

Foxwoods is such a fun place to play.  It was not very busy, however.  Folks attributed the small crowd to the fact that there is a big tournament going on at the Borgata right now, so a lot of players are going there.  Also, college has started up again so a lot of the kids are back in school.

The people who play in the poker room at Foxwoods are a total hoot, at least to this kid from Nebraska.  They are basically a caricature of the East Coast tough guy, like they just stepped out of an episode of The Sopranos.  One guy literally referred to his cousin Vinny.  Another guy was directed to "fuhgettaboutit"!  All I needed was for somebody to say "Badda-boom, badda-bing" and the picture would have been complete.

And of course, each hand was a macho contest, with nobody able to back down from anybody else.  Now for me -- who years ago gave up any pretense of being macho -- it was no problem at all for me to fold my blinds or call a bet without raising.  But for the other players, what can I say?  The standard pre-flop raise was anywhere between $30 and $50 (in a 2/5 game!), and five or six players would stay in.  Pots routinely came close to the $1000 point by showdown.  It was a very unusual environment for me, and while I never really got frustrated with this style I was baffled most of the time on how to adjust.

Later this month, I will be in Minneapolis so I'll have a chance to check out the Canterbury Park club.  I've been there before and it is a really nice, fun poker room.  Really bad players, which is the most important element of course!  I'll be there with my co-worker Steve, and I'm sure it will be a great time.

Some Poker Thoughts

Whenever I lose a hand (or when I see somebody else lose a hand), I like to examine the situation and try to figure out why the hand was lost.  By far the most frequent reason why somebody loses a hand (at least as it seems to me) is because they get involved pre-flop with inferior cards.  A small pair from mid position . . . two high cards from early position . . . garbage from the button . . . kicker problems compared to your later-position caller.  All these fall into the category of being just too darned loose pre-flop.  After the hand is lost, the loser feels they have been outdrawn or unlucky; but really what happened is that they went to war with inferior weapons.

That's why I will almost always fold an Ace in mid or even late position when somebody else has entered the pot.  I've written about this before; my Ace-Six in middle position is beat when there are four other folks in the pot and an Ace flops.  So why even force yourself to make those tough post-flop decisions?  Just let it go; your investment is zero; wait for a better hand.

It really surprises me how many folks think they are the next Daniel Negreanu or Freddy Deeb or Gus Hansen, and call a pre-flop raise with Eight-Six offsuit.  The pros know how to get away from a bad hand like this post-flop when they are beat.  I don't, and most of the folks I play against don't either (even though they think they do).

And don't even get me started on complete donkeys who hold onto a nice pre-flop pair such as Queens or Jacks, or even Kings, and continue to bet like crazy after an Ace flops and they're beat.  If I have Queens pre-flop on a board with an Ace, I'll fold it so fast you won't even realize what happened.  It is truly appalling how many poker players can't do that.

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I've been making plans to visit Foxwoods next month while I'm in Cambridge on business.  It's made me think about my last trip there, and how enjoyable it was.

I showed up around 10:00 am to play some $2/$5 no-limit.  There wasn't a seat open, so I put my name on the waiting list.  Soon, they had so many folks waiting for that game that they decided to open up a brand new table, so I sat down at it with eight others and played all day.

I left around midnight, which is a decent 14-hour session.  Everybody else who opened the table with me had already left, except for one guy who was still playing.  When I got up to leave, he also decided to leave, so we walked up to the cashier cage together to cash in our chips.

As we were walking up there, he said, "You know, I have been watching you play now for 14 hours, and I was never able to figure out what hand you had whenever you were in the pot.  I could just never figure it out.  Whenever you showed down, I was always wrong in my guess.  You always played differently than how I expected."

I thought that was a really nice thing for him to say.  He didn't have to say that.  (I suppose maybe he says to everybody just to butter them up.)

Table image is important, but sometimes it just doesn't matter.  I remember one time I was at a cardroom in Shoreline (the Hideaway I think it was).  It was a $4/$8 limit game.  I don't really like to play that kind of game because the rake will just kill you (I wrote about that earlier also) but I guess you could say I was out "slummin" that day and just didn't care.

The players were atrocious.  It's the kind of game where the way to win is just to be patient and wait for a good hand, and when you end up with the nuts just value-bet like crazy.  So that's what I was doing -- fold, fold, fold, fold.  The folks at the table were joking about it.

Then I get dealt pocket Aces, under the gun.  I bring it in for a raise.  A guy in middle position chuckled and said, "You had to brush the dust off those chips before you could bet, didn't you?"  He said this while he was putting in his chips for a call!  Of course, I won the hand, after betting (or re-raising) each street and letting him call.  He showed King/Jack which paired the Jack on the flop.  Astonishing.

Finally, some Poker to talk about!

Since I've gone so long without playing any poker (or writing about any hands I've played), I will post three hands today.  Usually, it takes me awhile to get back into the groove of playing good poker; but this time I guess I got right back on the bicycle and took off from where I left.

This is all $2/$5 No-limit hold-em.

The first hand, I was in second position.  The first position folded.  I looked down -- hello!  Two Aces, spade and heart.

Now I am more than happy to take the pot right there with Aces.  I think Stu Unger said that with pocket Aces you either win a small pot or lose a big one; and my experience has definitely confirmed that.  So, with Aces (or Kings or Queens or Jacks), I will almost never slowplay.  I go straight for a raise, hope everybody folds (or that I get a maximum of one caller), and move to the next hand.  So I made it $15 to go.

Everybody folded around to the big blind, who called.  I was okay with one caller.

The flop came Ace of clubs, Three of spades, Ten of hearts.  My opponent checked.

Now, this is probably the best possible flop for me.  Whenever I flop a set, I pretty much never slowplay.  Usually the set seems to come with a coordinated board -- flush or straight draws.  But this board seemed pretty safe, unless my opponent was playing with something like King-Queen.  I gambled that a free card would be safe, so I checked behind.

The turn was the Ten of spades.  Now I had a Full House!

At this point, my opponent bet $15 into a $32 pot.  The only thing I could be afraid of here would be pocket tens, and if that's the case, I'm going broke (he had me more than covered).  But it seemed more likely to me that he was on some kind of draw -- straight or flush -- or maybe he'd made his straight or had a ten for trips.  Just in case, I didn't want to scare him away so I just smooth-called.

The river was the Queen of Hearts.  How wonderful -- whatever draw he was on came in.

The pot was $62.  He bet $40.  Time to spring into action.  I raised to $120.  He re-raised to $265, and I went all-in for about $620.  He insta-called.

I showed my Aces for the boat.  He had King/Jack of spades for the Broadway straight and a flush draw.  I dragged in a pot of nearly $1250.

As I evaluate this hand, I don't think I could possibly have played it any better.  As far as my opponent's play goes, I'm okay with it up until the river.  I probably would have bet a smaller amount, and if raised would probably have just called.  I'd like to say I'd have folded to a raise, but I don't think I could have.  So, his mistake as I see it was going into a raising war and donking off all those extra chips.

The next two hands go together.  They were both against the same opponent, and the first one totally set up the second.  My opponent was a pretty good player for the most part, and the way I played these hands was quite risky but it paid off.

The first of these hands, I was in the cutoff.  It was folded around to me.  I looked down and saw Ace of clubs/Jack of spades.  Not a good hand at all, but if nobody else wanted to take the pot I decided I would try to.  I brought it in for $15.  The button -- my opponent -- was the only caller, so with a $37 pot we went to the flop.

The flop was Five of spades, Queen of spades, Ten of diamonds.

Ugh.  I have a gutshot straight draw (with the King) but basically this is the sort of hand I'm ready to give up on.  Essentially, I'm hoping -- begging -- that my opponent will put out a bet so that I can just fold the garbage I'm holding.

I checked, and he bet $5.  Now, that's not even a real bet.  Assuming I have four outs, my chances of winning at this point are around 17%; and the pot is laying me (barely) a bit more than that.  I was compelled to call.

The turn was the Jack of hearts.  So, now I have second pair on a board that is straightening; again I'm ready to fold.  I check; again he bets $5 into a $47 pot.

Finally, I realize he actually has nothing and that I'm playing with the best hand.  I call the $5.

The river is the Six of hearts.  The pot is $57.  I bet $30 -- just over half the pot.  After a long pause, my opponent calls.  He has the Ace of diamonds and Ten of hearts for a pair of Tens; my turned pair beats his flopped one and I pull in a pot of $112.

The second hand unfolds almost exactly the same way.  This time, I am the big blind.  My opponent is again to my left, under-the-gun.  By the time the action gets to me, he and two others have completed the big blind.  I have Jack of hearts and Nine of spades and just check my option.

The flop comes Queen of spades, Ten of spades, Ace of hearts; so I flop a very vulnerable open-ended straight draw.

The small blind checks; I check; my opponent minbets $5 into the $20 pot.  It's folded to me, and I call.

The turn is the Five of spades -- garbage.  I check; he minbets $5 again, I call again.

The river is the Queen of hearts.  I basically have a jack high hand.  But this board is a carbon-copy of the last board I had with this opponent, the one where I had slowplayed the winning hand.  If I played this hand the same way (and so far I had), would I be able to win it with the bluff?

I bet $30 in the $40 pot, and my opponent instantly folded.

Frankly, I don't bluff very often -- I hardly need to to win at poker against the folks I usually play -- but it really did work out here, and I am very pleased at how I played this hand.

Over a week of No Poker !!!

I really hate to be away from poker for such a long time.  And it nearly always happens just as I start to find myself "in the zone" poker-wise.  I'm making really good reads; betting just the right amounts; folding when I'm beat and raising when I'm not, etc.  Then, I take a long break . . . and when I get back to it, I have to start all over again from (what feels like) zero.

So I don't have any new poker stories to share.  I guess I will talk about the World Series some more, and some poker I have coming up.

One of the things I found myself doing during the WSOP, particularly since I was so short-stacked almost the whole time, is looking at the tournament clock and determining how much time was left in the level we were playing.  I started to ask myself whether I would be able to survive to the next level, as if that were the goal I had set.  I realized that I was playing around four hands each hour, and winning three of them, and that was enough to keep my chip stack stable.  Four hands an hour isn't much; it lets you play really tight.

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Here's a shout-out to my coworker Jon, from Boston.  He played in a NL rebuy tourney at Foxwoods last month and finished 6 out of 91 for a $1300 payday.  Congrats Jon!

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Meanwhile, I am headed to Boston myself in mid-September for a nine-day series of meetings and classes at HQ.  During the weekend of 9/13, I will head down to Foxwoods and spend the weekend there.  I've done that before during long trips back to HQ.  I'm trying to talk Jon into going out there too.  He's more of a stud player but as you can see from above he's decent at NLH also.